Put a Nightforce on,

Varmintmist

I like it. Its the fixed sr-2 with set 200 yard paralex.

I figured if I am going to play with the big boys, I was good enough to make use of it and these are about as good as it gets. I got the scope last Mon, the covers on Wed, and the mount on Thurs afternoon when I got home from work (Freedom Reaper). Mounted it, fired 7 rounds from the bench to get a 100 yard zero, packed up Fri and headed for a match. Fri afternoon I set a target at 200 and sent 3 into the x ring, called the 200 yard zero good and made dinner.

I shot master scores for 4 days.

Sat I shot a 2 man team match with a distinguished marksman. I showed up, not enough to win, but the next day there was a 4 man team match and he told me we had a team. I didnt know I was on one, but there ya go. I held my own with 3 distinguished and was a contributor and not an anchor. Mon was a 800 agg

I was real happy with my second string on my hind feet. Not to broke up on the first. I let an 8 wander out in prone rapid and my 600 being coached is probably my best or close to it.

I can actually see well enough to hold off at 600 with the NF. I really like this in standing to. I can call all my mistakes.... now if I can stop them I will have something.

Today was an EIC and I didnt make the cut. I shot a 93 standing, cleaned sitting, a 99 rapid prone, but only put together a 180 at 600. Only landed a 7 and a few 8's and could not find the x ring. Still enough to help the avg for classification, but not near the cut off for points.

Ernie Bishop

Excellent and congrats!

GunNut

Congratulations on some fine shooting and great testament to the equipment too!

Varmintmist

Thank you both.

It is a great scope, however I would still go the way I did. Buy decent and shoot it until it became a problem. NF was 4X the price of the Vortex, and to start and see if it is for you, then it is good enough. I will put it on a back up upper for the future.

earlyagain

I can't even imagine shooting that far standing. Extraordinary skill!

Diver43

Well done.  Much much better than I did when I used to shoot a lot

CHIRO1989

Nicely done. I take it that you are having fun

shotgunshooter3

Sometimes you have to pay to play, but it still takes a capable trigger puller to work the gear to its potential. Well done. 

Zee

You done well. 

Nightforce is assuredly some very clear glass. 

They gotta catch up with the customer service, though.  

Maybe they have by now. 

Varmintmist

Just for details, the rifle is a RRA NM 223 Wilde chamber with a Giessele 4.5, 2 stage NM trigger and lead added. It weighs in at about 16lb with a Bob Sled and Turner all weather sling added. Getting close to a 4000 round count on the bbl and will stay sub MOA.

Varmintmist

I need to find other places to shoot. The Marine Corp team, and the All Guard team and some GOOD jr teams are all here, I need worse competition to get points I think the cut was 478 and they gave out a gold, silver and 3 bronze legs. That means that the very least you could shoot in the EIC was 478 to even be considered to be able to get points towards Distinguished Rifleman.

And yes, I am having fun. Except for Sat afternoon. It was over 95 for all 4 days and I shot the team match, then I shot a M1A match (5 sight, 10 prone slow fire, 10 prone rapid, 10 sitting rapid, and 10 standing at 300 yards) with my Garand. I did OK until I got on my hind feet. I was so freaking tired, there wasnt anything left. They all scored, but I put more 7's on than anything else.

shotgunshooter3

Unrelated, but have you considered switching to a sliding buttstock and/or quad rail hand guard like many have?

It's not going to happen this season, but I'd really like to get back into Hi Power. Might be time to dust off the old RRA NMA2 and do some practice this winter if I can find ammo. I'll probably bite the bullet and do a flat top conversion as well.

Varmintmist

Nope. I have thought about the stock, but I dwarf the rifle and the its not like I could shorten anything up and still make it functional. My hold is right nostril on charging handle in all positions. My LOP when I had it measured for the flintlock was 14.75 so even if I could make it longer, would it be enough? I went with extended bases and took care of that problem. (Vortex with the vortex, Freedom Reaper with the NF) Making an AR stock that long would really mess things up right now and that is where I have an extra 4lb of lead. Perhaps on the rebarrel.

The quad rail for HP has always been a huge WHY for me. It might be better sitting, but I am shooting 98-cleans now. My prone has gotten back to low enough to drive my hand into the front sling swivel and my errors are not equipment, and I hold a V on the delta ring standing.

I did find that I shot as good standing with irons, at least on reduced as I did with the vortex

shotgunshooter3

Fair points all. I'm interested in the stock because at 5'10 I am decidedly average height, and I always found the A2 stock awkward in the offhand position.

Also understood on quad rails. I have a really good deal on a blemish Geissele lined up, but I may focus those funds elsewhere. Really all I need is a flat top conversion and a mount, I already have a Vortex PST 1-4 MOA standing by.

Varmintmist

I would go ahead and put the money into a good mount early. If I would have done that I would be ahead in cash on mounts. It isnt that much more, and you can always use it. The freedom reaper is DNZ which are well thought of. https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Reaper-Forward-Picantinny-Mount/dp/B00403LJLW 147 was about the best price I found. IF you get the fwd one, you can always set it back, if you get a std, you cant go farther forward.

If the quad will let you free float, then get the quad. Mine is free floated under the round hand guard.

And as to practice? Dry fire. That has helped me a lot more than spending money on equipment.

pjames777

Impressive.  Congratulations.

Pegasus

Hey Varmint, that's an excellent performance; you should be very pleased with it.

I want to talk about your riflescope.  I see you have the Nightforce Competition SR Fixed 4.5-24 with the SR-2 reticle.  What was the deciding factor in your choice between the SR-1 reticle and the SR-2 reticle?

The reason I am asking is that I like to find out what appeals to, or turns off people who buy competition riflescopes.  I had a part in designing the MTR-D3 reticle for the March 1-4.5X24 riflescope for Service Rifle and I have my reasons for the various artifacts in there, but I would love to hear your thoughts on the SR-2 and the reasons for selecting that one over the SR-1.

I have been doing more reticle designs for another upcoming March scope, this one for PRS.  That's a whole 'nother kettle o' fish, so let's stay with SR.

And again, very well done.

Varmintmist

In a word, price, timing, and the SR-2 is the one I wanted and I found a deal.

I wanted the SR2 because the center xhair is right at 6 MOA, so if all of the legs can be seen just outside when you make the shot, it is a 10. The circle around it just draws my eye there without being in the way. Leupold has a similar concept as the circle around the xhair is at 6MOA and I am starting to see more of them on the line. I am thinking that one would be trying to focus on the circle. Might work.

I like the NF as it is clean all around, not busy and being a bear with little brain I like to focus on one thing without distractions. The center xhair is fine enough to hold off the Xring. I can put the verticle on the left or right of the numbers at 600 yards and the xhair @.3 MOA between the rings while being able to see all around it. In the 4 man team, the coach was calling for X at 9 as the aim point at 600, and I could make that happen.

I honestly think it helped my standing as much as anything. At a guess, my standing avg for the 4 day stint was up 3 pts. I can really see myself making the error and if I am praying for a 9 at 7, it's going to be an 8 if I broke it there. It feels natural.

In a nutshell, it is not busy, the aim point is fine and clean, tracking is dead on, and it is very intuitive. The SR1 would probably work as well but I was looking for the 2 because of the size of the interior cross hair. I think this is going to be a hard act to follow.

Does that help?

Varmintmist

earlyagain said:

I can't even imagine shooting that far standing. Extraordinary skill!

Shooting that far is easy. Its hitting the middle that kicks my butt

Pegasus

Varmintmist said:

In a word, price, timing, and the SR-2 is the one I wanted and I found a deal.

I wanted the SR2 because the center xhair is right at 6 MOA, so if all of the legs can be seen just outside when you make the shot, it is a 10. The circle around it just draws my eye there without being in the way. Leupold has a similar concept as the circle around the xhair is at 6MOA and I am starting to see more of them on the line. I am thinking that one would be trying to focus on the circle. Might work.

I like the NF as it is clean all around, not busy and being a bear with little brain I like to focus on one thing without distractions. The center xhair is fine enough to hold off the Xring. I can put the verticle on the left or right of the numbers at 600 yards and the xhair @.3 MOA between the rings while being able to see all around it. In the 4 man team, the coach was calling for X at 9 as the aim point at 600, and I could make that happen.

I honestly think it helped my standing as much as anything. At a guess, my standing avg for the 4 day stint was up 3 pts. I can really see myself making the error and if I am praying for a 9 at 7, it's going to be an 8 if I broke it there. It feels natural.

In a nutshell, it is not busy, the aim point is fine and clean, tracking is dead on, and it is very intuitive. The SR1 would probably work as well but I was looking for the 2 because of the size of the interior cross hair. I think this is going to be a hard act to follow.

Does that help?

Yes, it helps a lot.  I appreciate the cogent, well-reasoned response.  I completely agree with you about simple reticle designs with no distractions.  That was out main goal when designing the reticle(s) for the upcoming PRS scope. (Coming in August.)

It was also the driving force behind the MTR-D3 reticle but we opted for a 0.75MOA inner circle inside the 6MOA ID main circle as a continuation of the peep sight concept; circle over circle. with the X-ring being 1MOA OD, you can place the inner circle surgically on the X-ring or fade as needed, while still having the outer circle as a guide.

Thanks again for the great reply.